Beneath the 2015 incarnation of this bohemian neighborhood lies a storied past. What is now Flat Shoals Avenue—home to craft-beer bars, intimate music venues, and inventive restaurants—used to be the Sandtown Trail, a Creek Indian trading route. And where now Craftsman bungalows dot the residential streets, cannons and rifles once roared among the old-growth oaks during the Battle of Atlanta. Situated three miles east of downtown, East Atlanta melds the historic and the contemporary with a dose of independent-minded swagger, appealing equally to the weekend party crowd, 30-something professionals, families with kids, and long-time residents who still tend their gardens and water their lawns, watching the ebbs and flows of the diverse and dynamic neighborhood they all call home.
The converted gas station that houses Holy Taco cycled through a laundry list of restaurant concepts in the early 2000s. That all ended with the arrival of Holy Taco. Here’s why. 1) A chef-driven menu including tacos both standard (chicken, shrimp, fish) and surprising (beef tongue, goat, pork belly). Venture away from tacos and you’ll be rewarded with seasonally changing offerings like buffalo-style pig tails, grilled octopus, and Mexican street corn. 2) A stellar bar program that highlights tequila the way a taco place should. And 3) one of the Village’s best patios, partially shaded by trellis work and intricate vines.
